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Bob and Almeady Jones: Freed Slave to Landowning Rancher Couple

A couple born into slavery who built a ranch, a church and a school in North Texas.

Who were Bob and Almeady Jones?

J.D. "Bob" Jones (1850 to 1936) and Almeady Chisum Jones (1857 to 1949) were both born into slavery and later built one of the larger landholdings in their part of North Texas, per the Texas Trail of Fame page. Their ranch lay along the Denton-Tarrant county line near present-day Southlake.

They were inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame in 2023. Their story is documented by the Southlake Historical Society, whose exhibit won a 2021 Texas Historical Commission Award of Excellence in Preserving History.

Bob Jones: from trail drives to land

The Southlake Historical Society biography says Bob was the son of Leazer Alvis Jones, a white man, and Elizabeth, whom Leazer enslaved. Around 1859 the family moved to Texas, to a farm in the Medlin community. Bob said his father freed him in 1865.

He herded sheep during the Civil War and later worked trail drives to Kansas railheads. After the war he bought his first 60 acres from his father and then more land along Denton Creek in the Eastern Cross Timbers. His holdings are estimated at 1,000 to 2,000 acres; a 1937 newspaper put them at about 1,000 acres at his death.

Almeady Chisum Jones

Almeady was born into slavery, probably in Gainesville. Her mother, Jensie, said the cattle baron John Simpson Chisum was Almeady's father; that is undocumented. As a child she was among several people given to Chisum as collateral for cattle being trailed west and lived at his ranch near Bolivar in Denton County until about 1871.

She later lived in Bonham, met Bob around 1873 or 1874 and married him on January 3, 1875. She was a skilled seamstress, as were her daughters, and several Jones family dresses from the 1910s are now held by the Denton County African American Museum. She raised ten children.

Building a ranch and a community

The couple had ten children, and the Trail of Fame page says they made sure each finished eighth grade. Bob built Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in 1902 and donated an acre for the Walnut Grove School in 1920, according to the historical society. In the late 1800s they began an end-of-harvest picnic for ranch hands and neighbors, Black and white, which became a tradition.

A 2023 report from 360West Magazine adds that Bob built a school for Black or biracial children barred from white schools. About 500 people, Black and white, attended his funeral in 1936.

The Key to the Joneses' Success

The record points to patient land buying, family labor and community work rather than a single big deal.

  • He earned cash first, from trail-drive work and herding, before buying land.
  • He bought in stages, starting with 60 acres from his father and adding land along Denton Creek.
  • They worked as a family, with Almeady raising ten children and living off the land.
  • They invested in education, paying attention to schooling for their own children and others.
  • They built a church and school and hosted harvest picnics for neighbors of every race.
  • The costs were real: the Army Corps of Engineers took much of the land by eminent domain for Grapevine Lake in the mid-1940s.

Lake Grapevine and the next generation

The Southlake biography says the family home and about 40 surrounding acres were initially included in the taking, but Eugie Jones Thomas fought it and kept the land. The home burned in 1948. Sons Jinks and Emory later opened the Grapevine Live Stock Auction Barn, and their wives ran the adjoining Jones Bros. Cafe, thought to be the first integrated cafe in Texas.

Southlake has a Bob Jones Park, Bob Jones Road and Bob Jones Nature Center and Preserve, and a sculpture honors the couple. Carroll ISD named Walnut Grove Elementary School in 2012 in tribute to Bob Jones. See farm.FM's ranching section and a farm.FM story about Black cowboys in Texas.

Timeline

  1. 1850Bob Jones born into slavery in Arkansas
  2. 1857Almeady Chisum born into slavery
  3. 1865Bob freed by his father, he later said
  4. 1875Bob and Almeady marry on January 3
  5. 1902Bob builds Mt. Carmel Baptist Church
  6. 1920Bob donates an acre for the Walnut Grove School
  7. 1936Bob dies December 25
  8. 1949Almeady dies
  9. 2023Inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame

Frequently asked questions

Who were Bob and Almeady Jones?

Bob (1850 to 1936) and Almeady Chisum Jones (1857 to 1949) were a couple born into slavery who built a prosperous ranch on the Denton-Tarrant county line in North Texas.

How much land did Bob Jones own?

The Southlake Historical Society estimates 1,000 to 2,000 acres. A 1937 newspaper put his holdings at about 1,000 acres at his death.

Who was Almeady Chisum Jones's father?

Her mother said John Simpson Chisum was her father, but the Southlake Historical Society says that is undocumented. Almeady lived on Chisum's ranch near Bolivar as a child.

What happened to the Jones land?

In the mid-1940s the Army Corps of Engineers took much of it for Lake Grapevine. Their sons later opened a livestock auction barn and cafe on land nearby.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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